Steak must be bloody rare for me. Slap it off the cow, warm it up on each side and hand it over to me. I love a good Pittsburgh rare (black and blue). It's too rare for Ray and he said he's waiting for me to end up in the hospital with some stomach bug or worm that I ingested from a too rare steak. Now I must go have lunch at Ruth's Chris.

Then it's not cooked correctly for the cut. A med-rare steak should not be in any way chewy. Overcooked meat is far more chewy. If you get a rare steak it can be a bit chewy depending on the cut, but I find it easier to chew then well done would be.

I prefer my steaks on the edge between rare and med-rare. Depends on the quality of the cut of course.

Medium rare is the good stuff. Slightly crispy on the outside and pink, bordering to red, on the inside. That's some good stuff.

I always cook my beef medium rare. Of course, the definition of medium rare tends to move around a bit when I'm cooking. Charcoal and bloody is, for instance, also a shade of medium rare in my kitchen.

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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.

I think you can imagine how often I've heard that. I get a little smirk from thinking that I'm somehow enjoying my food wrong.

I think the general idea is that you can get an equivalent food experience by having a different cut of meat prepared in that manner. Typically this is used when someone has an expensive cut of meat cooked beyond the point that would differentiate it from less costly options. Obviously, as long as the end-user is happy, that's all that really matters.

I think you can imagine how often I've heard that. I get a little smirk from thinking that I'm somehow enjoying my food wrong.

I don't think it's a matter of thinking you're enjoying your food wrong, so much as enjoying something which could be obtained more cheaply (hence the reference to cuts of meat). The higher grade cuts of meat (which you will pay more for) are more expensive precisely because they will have a better taste/texture when cooked medium rare (or less). They will taste no better when cooked well (or medium) than a much less expensive cut.

So if you're buying the cheapest bulk meat you can get at the grocery store and cooking it medium or well on your own grill or stove, no one's likely to comment. But if you're going into a high end steak restaurant and paying $30 or more for a steak and asking for it medium or well, you will raise eyebrows (although asking for medium in a restaurant will usually get you something more on the medium rare side anyway). It's kinda like putting premium gas in a car that doesn't require it. You *can* do so, and it wont hurt anything. But you're really just wasting your money.

I prefer my steak rare, so this means it was probably closer to blue. I am closer to getting my scallops sauteed with a brown crust... Either way dinner was yummy!

And Gbaji and Spoonless have a point, lower cuts meat need to be marinated and grilled or browned and cooked slow and low. High end cuts love butter finishing. Mmmmmm.... But to each their own taste. If you are paying for it, get it the way want.

The point they're trying to make is that the medium rare steak you had was likely prepared incorrectly due to the description you gave. Medium rare should not be chewy and bubblegum-like. Whether you enjoy chewy and bubblegum-like does not matter, the point is that medium rare should not be like that. As such, you may have gotten a wrong impression of medium rare.

To use an exaggerated example: I order an omelet and someone accidentally cracks an entire egg, with shell, into the mix. I receive the omelet and find it crunchy and strangely uncomfortable to eat. As such, I draw the conclusion that omelets are crunchy and uncomfortable to eat and therefore I dislike them. However, someone comes along and says "well, omelets aren't supposed to be crunchy... perhaps someone dropped an egg shell into the mix." That person is not saying that I should like omelets, he's just saying that omelets shouldn't be made with egg shells and that perhaps tasting an omelet without egg shells in it would change my opinion.

I think.

Edited, Sep 26th 2012 6:41pm by Mazra

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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.

The point they're trying to make is that the medium rare steak you had was likely prepared incorrectly due to the description you gave. Medium rare should not be chewy and bubblegum-like. Whether you enjoy chewy and bubblegum-like does not matter, the point is that medium rare should not be like that. As such, you may have gotten a wrong impression of medium rare.

Allegory doesn't care what the official definition of medium-rare is, he prefers his definition.